Rise in demand for new drugs at a low cost and entry of domestic and global companies in the APIs market have led to innovative product offerings with new and advanced techniques. Any substance or combination of substances used in a finished pharmaceutical product (FPP) is known as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). A finished dose of any drug is a combination of active pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients. An excipient is an inactive substance in a drug dose.

High-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) and antibody-drug conjugates are recent innovations in the market and require a special manufacturing set up. Most of these drugs are used in oncology. A large number of patents for small molecule APIs are expected to expire in the next few years, with many drugs losing patent protection in 2018. This is estimates to unlock a significant market opportunity for generic drug manufacturers, resulting in augmented demand for APIs. Large pharmaceutical companies are scaling down their small molecule manufacturing facilities to focus on biologic drugs, thereby presenting greater opportunities for contract manufacturing companies, particularly in Asia.

A key trend of collaborations and acquisitions of related companies to increase geographic presence has been observed in the last few years. For instance, in July 2017, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Entered into a long-term manufacturing agreement with Samsung BioLogics for the manufacture of Ilumya.

The global active pharmaceutical ingredients market has been broadly segmented based on manufacturer, APIs, drug, therapeutic, and region. In terms of manufacturer, the global market has been classified into in-house API manufacturing and API contract manufacturing. The in-house API manufacturing segment accounted for a key share of the global market, in terms of revenue, in 2017. The API contract manufacturing segment is estimated to expand at a significant growth rate during the forecast period. Consequently, the segment is estimated to gain significant market share by the end of 2026.

In terms of region, the global active pharmaceutical ingredients market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the global market and is projected to lose market share by the end of 2026. The market in North America is primarily driven by a rapid increase in the geriatric population, high adoption of new drugs, and rise in group dental practices in the U.S.. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period. In Asia Pacific, Japan dominated the active pharmaceutical ingredients market, while the market in China is estimated to expand at a prominent CAGR during the forecast period. The report also profiles major players in the market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Major players operating in global active pharmaceutical ingredients market include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Aurobindo Pharma, Pfizer Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, and Bayer AG..

The global active pharmaceutical ingredients market has been segmented as given below: